Sat Sept 7
Up at 5! Breakfast and off to the airport by 6:30.
Lots of extra security today….not sure why. Had to get out of the van at the airport entrance gate, before we arrived at the road for the departures,walk thru the gate then get back in the van. Security again to get in the airport.
On the board at the airport entrance it said our flight was cancelled!! A moment or two of panic. Had to go thru yet another security check to get to the check in desk….where I noticed that it said our flight was on time??? Once thru security we just went and checked in, no problems, thank goodness.
First part of the flight was Entebbe to Nairobi, where we had a 2 hour layover. Connecting flight to Lusaka had a quick 1/2 hour stop in Harare, Zimbabwe. Left Entebbe at 10:40 finally arrived in Lusaka at 5:30PM. Had two young brothers, 8 and 14yrs old, sitting next to me on the flight from Nairobi to Harare. Really cute kids and fun to chat with. They were off to boarding school until Christmas, then home for a month and back again to finish out the school year. Very quiet at first, then more chatty as the flight went on. Final flight of our trip from Harare to Lusaka was 45 minutes.
No issues on arrival, thru immigration/customs and out to find Matthews waiting for us with a sign. About a 45 minute drive to Sarek B & B for our one night here. We were supposed to go to Leslie’s for dinner but she had shingles and is still trying to recover, so her cook made dinner for us and sent it to the B & B…..nothing else around so this was a good thing.
We seem to be a bit out in the wilderness. In this area is what they call “plots”. Not sure how big they are but I’d say at least a few acres each. Hard to tell what is on them because it was dark and everyone seems to have gates.
Sarek B&B is lovely. https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel_Review-g293843-d6398171-Reviews-Sarek_Creek_B_and_B-Lusaka_Lusaka_Province.html Two separate bedrooms, each with a small “kitchen counter” (small fridge, microwave, kettle, dishes etc) and a big seating area. A big deck with a sitting and eating area separating the two. A bit chilly at night, definitely a sweater or light jacket needed. Lots of mosquitos here at night!! First time I’ve gone into my stash of repellent (too high at Nkuringo for mosquitos). John, the owner, came by to introduce himself and explain how things worked. Number one was that they’d stocked up the fridge with wine for us!! And the second was about the “power shedding” that happens each evening. Basically all the power is shut off, usually between 7 – 10, to conserve electricity, so until then they are running on solar or auxilliary power…..just enough to keep the fridge cool and provide some very dull lighting. Charging camera batteries, phones etc. had to be done after 10PM.
Dinner was excellent…olive chicken, lentils, a delicious salad of veg, beans, corn etc.
Extremely dark at night…and extremely quiet except for John’s dogs barking off in the distance (his home is just thru the bush across from us….). Played cards, sat around and chatted for a while. Will be interesting to see exactly what it looks like around here in the daylight….I know John has a zebra or two.
Great day, even for a travel day. Not sure if it really counts but I was in 4 countries today!! Started in Uganda, a stop in Kenya, another quick stop in Zimbabwe and finally in Zambia.
Off to Kafue River Camp tomorrow to start our safaris!
Sun Sept 8
Slept great. Up at 5:30! Tea and instant coffee supplied, how nice! Enjoyed it on the big deck. Got to see the billy goats roaming around….I don’t think I’ve ever seen them before….beards and all. And then, there was a zebra!! How exciting. One of John’s domesticated ones, but still…a zebra in Africa!!
Around 7:30, Lloyd, John’s cook, brought us a nice breakfast of toast, various jams, cheese, meat and hard boiled eggs.
Matthews arrived around 9 for our long drive to Kafue River Camp. First we had a bit of tour thru Lusaka and a stop at a mall to find a bank machine to pick up some Kwacha. Lusaka is spread out for miles. A bit of a mishmash of old and new, nice and run down. Lots of big new shopping malls popping up (Chinese money??). Some very nice areas with good paved roads, nice homes and various embassies. Also lots of haphazard stuff as well….pop-up shops on corners, vendors walking thru traffic, big modern roads, some beautiful treelined streets, and then roads that barely passed as paved with open gutters. Quite a big industrial area for many different kinds of businesses, not unlike our industrial parks at home.
If you are an important person or government minister your street will be paved and well kept, if not it’s pretty much a dirt road. People walking everywhere, often with stuff on their head. Here too, many walk for miles to and from work or school everyday.
Our trip started out for the first few hours on a paved highway. Small villages scattered along the way with many people having fruit and vegetable stands along the road, some selling big sacks of charcoal. You see a lot of big plastic sacks/packages stacked in various places….these are the corn husks that women collect and bag up and get paid for them…..can’t recall exactly what they are used for though. You see the odd herd of goats or sheep and some cattle. A few baobob trees….really amazing things!! Lots of places that make bricks. Many people work in the copper mining industry which the Chinese are operating.
Passed a couple of check points…..questionable according to Matthews. They didn’t harass us but they did have a few cars pulled over. Apparently the police or ?? will find some law or rule that you are breaking then tell you it’s a $XX fine. If you only have $5 or something less, they’ll take it and likely just put it in their pocket!
Finally after a couple hours we arrived in the town/city of Mumbwe…..kind of a messy place, again a mishmash of buildings, but not messy in the garbage kind of messy. Stopped for gas, a pee break and to stretch a bit. A couple of schools, lots of churches (of every faith….), shops etc. on the main highway. All in the dirt sort of off to the side of the road but in the centre of town is a beautiful big roundabout with flowers, trees and a statue of someone/thing!
Just after Mumbwe we left the paved highway and on to a very bumpy, rocky, rough dirt road. Not a lot to see along the way other than forest. After another hour or so of bumping along we turned on to another very lumpy, even bumpier, dirt road that was the entrance to the Kafue National Park.
Hoped to start seeing some animals but nothing too exotic…..my first African antelopes (bushbucks, pukus, impalas) and lots of monkeys and baboons….still exciting though. Came to the Kafue river, which we crossed on the ferry….there is a cable strung across the river that the ferry is attached too so it doesn’t float off down stream.
Another 20 minutes or so of bumping along we arrived at Kafue River Lodge around 2:30. https://northernkafuesafaris.com/kafue-river-lodge/ Greeted with nice warm face clothes and drinks.
This place is really nice!! I have nothing to compare it too but it is all I expected and more for a safari camp. Our chalet is quite big. It has 2 queen size beds, a very nice bathroom, claw foot tub and all, an outdoor shower and a nice deck. 
The common area is all open with a dining area, bar, seating area all undercover and another seating area not undercover that is cantilevered out over the river……absolutely beautiful!
Met our guide, Evaristo (sp?). He filled us in on the comings and goings of the animals…..had just missed some lions in camp this morning and elephants on the little island across from us. Could hear the hippos….they make a lot of racket!! And they sound very close by….apparently they come up out of the river to graze during the night.
Decided to pass on the evening game drive…..our backs needed a bit of rest after our long bumpy drive today. And we were starving!! No lunch….I think someone slipped up on that because they’ve been incredibly attentive so far. Afternoon tea was served at 3:30….delicious orange cake. The gals that run the bar and kitchen are just lovely. The cake and a glass of wine in these surroundings hit the spot. I cannot even describe how beautiful it is here!
Just as it got dark around 6:30 they put a fire in the pit next to the lounge area where they served more wine and some delicious little cheese and bacon roll appies. Dinner at 7:30 was very good.
The table was set beautifully with white tableclothes, wine glasses napkins etc. First course was tomato soup (v.g.), main was BBQ chicken, potatoes and veg. Dessert was a carrot pudding with what tasted like a cream cheese icing (v.v.v.g) .
We are the only guest here until tomorrow.
Sat around chatting with our guide for a bit before it got a bit chilly and were then escorted to our chalets…..you cannot wander around here on your own at night. They suggest you don’t even sit out on your deck…..you just never know what can wander thru.
Excited! First game drive bright and early tomorrow…..5:30 wake up call, with coffee!
Mon Sept 9
Slept great….very comfy bed! Was up before the wake up call and coffee arrived! Noticed a fire going across the walkway in the grassy area near the river so figured it was safe enough to sit outside in the dark…..with a blanket on…..quite nippy in the morning. They were coming and going setting up our al fresco breakfast. Could hear the hippos snorting…..presumably all safely (for us!) back in the river by now.
Great continental type breakfast…..toast, buns, cheese, muffins, fruit, cereal etc. An amazing amount of stuff put out for just the 4 of us but all set up lovely.
Off on my first ever safari! How exciting! Different truck than Matthews, using the KRL jeep. This one is all open with a canopy. Blankets and hotwater bottles were waiting for us on the seats….a very nice touch and definitely needed once we got moving.
Bumpity bump down the “road” we went. Saw lots of antelope…..pukus, bushbucks, kudus and impalas, all of which I can now identify! Impalas are the easiest with the “M” on their bums. Tons of warthogs with babies “Pumbaas”. They are the cutest little things…..usually 3 or 4 babies with the adult. Their little tails are straight up in the air, like little antenas, when they run….and they run fast! Apparently the tails are really like antenas because they have poor eye sight so rely on the little hairy bit on the tail in front of them to know where to go. Interesting. A lot of anthills and termite mounds….some huge ones.
The morning light here is incredible…..everything takes on this golden orange glow. Fantastic for real photographers!
As it started to warm up we stopped so our tracker could fill the little bucket on the back of the jeep with elephant dung, which he then lit. The smoke, which actually smelt quite nice, keeps the nasty biting flies away.
Quite a mix of vegetation….foresty and savannah here. Sausage trees, palms, lots of figs and strangler vines, even a few tall cactus type trees. Many trees look dead but then you notice a bit of green sticking out at the top. Big beautiful leafy raintrees (which I think are also a ficus of some sort), lots of scrubby bush and lion/elephant grass. It’s spring so all comes back to life when the rainy season starts in October.
Halfway thru our drive we stopped at a bit of a hot spring for our morning coffee/tea break. Found my first hippo wallowing in one of the mud holes about 25ft from where I was standing!
Drove along the river after coffee and found a bunch of hippos! The river is really shallow in some places so got a chance to see half a hippo out of the water instead of just their noses and eyes. They are massive animals! Saw a little baby one too. More antelopes and warthogs but no elephants or lions. Lots of birds! Many storks, fish eagles and various bee eaters.
Had warmed up quite nicely by the time we got back to camp for lunch. Chicken pizza (v.g.) coleslaw and a really good beet salad with apple and pineapple.
Went back to our chalet to clean up and found monkeys trying to get in!!! Our door hadn’t latched so it was open. Worried at bit that they might have gotten in and ran off with something!! Luckily as we very slowly got a bit closer they scattered. Didn’t look like they had got in thank goodness! Also had to manuever around a family of warthogs.
Two ladies from California arrived, so chatted with them a bit. They had just come from the camp in the Busanga plains, our next stop, and said it was fantastic! Animals galore, including a charging elephant or two! Can’t wait!
Sat around the lounge/common/dining area and played cards, updated journals and just enjoyed the views. This location is just so beautiful. Caught glimpses of the hippos in the river and could hear them snorting from under the deck that hangs out over the river. Was hoping for an elephant or lion to wander thru but no such luck.
Tea at 3 then out for our evening drive at 4. Went the opposite way, back towards the way we came in, crossing the river on the “ferry” again. Quite the line up tonite. Two cars going each way and one very overloaded truck. 
The plan was that we would have our drive on the other side of the river and then take a boat back across the river to camp. Drove around in search of some elephants but saw none….a little disappointing to say the least but we’ve got a number of days left, so not discouraged yet. They are out there!! Somewhere!!
Stopped for our sundowners in a wide open field. Just beautiful. Gorgeous sunsets here. Again the colours are amazing…..they truly look photoshopped. I just wish I had a better camera. Sundowners were beer, wine and the most delicious beef (?) jerky ever!
Off we went heading back towards the river and our boat ride home. Got pretty exciting when we got there and there was no boat!!! Apparently the river was too low at that spot so they had taken the boat further down but Evaristo didn’t know that!! On the walkie talkie things trying to pin point where the boat was. Off we went in the now pitch black. Russ was operating the spotlight hoping to find Moses, the boat guy. We had to go off road so the jeep was thrashing thru long grass, downed tree branches, one of which flew up an whacked me in the side of the head….no blood thank goodness but certainly could have taken out an eye if it had hit a bit differently. All was good though. It seemed like we drove forever, but was really only another 1/2 hour or so. Was a little tense for a while, or at least based on the communication back and forth on the walkie talkie….couldn’t understand what they were saying but sounded like a lot of yelling.
Finally, with the spotlight, we caught a glimpse of Moses in the tall grass waving frantically to catch our eye. I really never doubted that we’d find him, Evaristo knows this place like the back of his hand, on or off the roads, so was kind of exciting. Parked the jeep and out we got…..so dark you could hardly see anything. We still had to get to the river, down the bank and onto the boat…..they didn’t have any flashlights!! We used our phone flashlights to see. This was a bit tense because the ground was so rough….full of dried up elephant footprints, tufts of dried grasses and lumpy bits of bush. Getting down the river bank was also a challenge because it was so steep and uneven. Did not want to fall and break an ankle or arm!! We made it on to the boat, which was not much bigger than a rowboat. Once we were all in and got away from shore you could feel and hear the bottom dragging on rocks or whatever. The outboard motor on the back clonked on stuff too. Only took 5 minutes or so to cross but it did seem like forever knowing that crocs and hippos were in the river and we couldn’t see where they were.
Back on the other side, up the same type of rough river bank, to a jeep waiting for us. A few minute drive and we were back at camp looking for wine!! Quite the adventure….rather fun and exciting for my first evening game drive…..even though we didn’t see any game! Did suggest that they might want to keep a couple flashlights in the jeep for those just in case times like tonight.
Got back to camp after 7:30 so asked to wait until 8:15ish for dinner while we recovered from all the excitement. Dinner was great. Appie was one big spinach and cheese ravioli, main was rice, stir fried veg and pork (v.g.) dessert was sort of a cheesecake brulee (v.v.g.).
Met our guide for Kasonso Camp in the Busanga Plains, Newton. He’ll be driving us tomorrow. A bit of a long drive, 5 – 6 hours, but hopefully a good one.
Sadly no exciting animals today or tonight (except the hippos), but certainly an exciting end to our evening drive. A great day and can’t wait until we head to Busanga plains tomorrow.
While you’re out on the drive/having dinner they do a “turn down” of your bed and get the nets all set up. Quite nice!
Tues Sept 10
Slept great again. Coffee and wake up call at 6:30…..a bit of sleep in. Beautiful morning and a spectacular sunrise over the river. They had a nice fire going next to the lounge….a bit chilly in the morning….one of the gals was making our toast over the fire!! Was nice to sit there having more coffee until breakfast was served. Another great breakfast but in the lounge this morning. Eggs, bacon (absolutely delicious bacon here!!), sausage, beans etc. basically just about a full English breakfast.
Started our drive in the open jeep with Newton. Matthews, the MTTZ guy, followed in the closed jeep??? Our drive was to be 5 – 6 hours….and it was! Not sure why we had to use the open Kafue Camp jeep…..was very, very cold to start bopping along at anywhere from 40 – 65k on a terrible bumpy dirt road, was not that great. The wind numbed your lips, face and ears and just about turned our eyelids inside out when he was booting it.
Drove thru a couple of typical villages. Most houses now are made of bricks but many still have the grass roofs. Always a few outbuildings made of sticks…..one is usually just for cooking. Was interesting in that we were miles and miles away from any substantial town and saw nothing close to anything resembling a store where you would get supplies or regular household items. A few market stands selling fruit and beg. Some houses, or family compounds, seemed quite prosperous……bigger houses, with metal roofs instead of elephant or lion grass thatch…..and neat and tidy gardens. There was some electricity but no plumbing or water so everyone uses the wells…..luckily there were quite a few so not too far for people to carry the water home. Many carry the buckets on their heads!
Newton was from one of the villages so we stopped and met one of his brothers and his father…..who is also a guide and runs Kasonso Camp with him. Lots of people came by to say hi to him……seems a pretty popular guy!
Crossed the river again on another ferry. Stopped at the park gate to eat our boxed lunches (ham and cheese sandwiches, an apple, cookies and a juice box!! v.g.) and a pee behind a shed! Have learned to keep extra pieces of tissue to wrap the used tissues in until you get to the garbage bag in the jeep…..and hand sanitizer handy!
From the gate we took a “shortcut” thru a forest. Very sparse at this time of year but will thicken and green up when the rainy season starts. Lots of burnt out areas……have heard many reasons for burning…..”controlled” burns, villagers burn to get rid of snakes (apparently many people get bit), poachers burn to clear bush and brush to hunt the animals, and lastly because it puts nutrients back into the soil……but really who knows??!! Drove for another 45 minutes. Luckily it had warmed up quite a bit but was still face numbing with the wind blowing at you.
Once we cleared the forest and got on to the Busanga Plain we did start to see animals off in the distance….zebras, wildebeests, more antelope (a new one called lechwe). The plain is very flat with lion/elephant grasses blowing in the breeze, trees and palm thickets scattered around. Very, very pretty really.
Arrived at Kasonso Camp just after 2:30. https://northernkafuesafaris.com/kasonso-busanga/ Greeted by Sara, the manager, with wet face clothes (much needed and appreciated!) and drinks. Lovely open reception/lounge/dining area. There are only 4 “tents”, small but very nice. Two twin beds with mosquito netting, a good sized bathroom (semi open to the elements….don’t leave your toiletry bags out there with toothpaste….the monkeys love it apparently!). The buildings are a combo of tent material and wood frames. Ours looks out over the plain, which is really quite spectacular……golden grasses, trees off in the distance, sort of hazy because of the heat of the day….just beautiful!
We decided on no game drive tonight…..just cuz we’d driven quite enough already. Close to 6 hours to get here. Our faces and backs needed a bit of a rest. They served us lunch! Which we weren’t expecting since we’d had our boxed lunches from KRL. 
It’s set up as a little buffet. We had delicious fish and chips and a really good coleslaw. The fish is the local talapia…..so good and such a treat because we’re not supposed to buy it at home (comes from Vietnam or ??? where they dynamite the fish!).
Our daily crib games, updated journals, used the wifi (only available in the lounge). A nice quiet afternoon. Chatted with the only other guests, a couple from the Netherlands. They were just heading out on their evening drive and said this place has been fantastic.
As soon as the sun started to go down it cooled off pretty good. Back to our tent to change into jeans and grab a sweater. Beautiful sunset!! Just amazing, the colours are indescribable…..could see a herd of elephants way off in the distance making their way across the plain. A wildebeest, not too far away, having his dinner in the tall grass…..pretty incredible!
Sat in the lounge and yakked until dinner. The table was set just lovely…..white tablecloth, red napkins in the wine glasses. Blankets and hot water bottles on the chairs!! It really does cool down quite a bit so those were really appreciated. Dinner was great. Starter was a delicious pumpkin soup, main was one of the most delicious and tender filets (yes, filet!! Possibly “kudu” but delicious whatever!) that I’ve ever had. 
Dessert was a spice cake with a dollop of a cream. All was excellent! Whoever told us to not expect gourmet food was so wrong…..everything we’ve had so far has been really good and presented so nicely.
Newton joined us for dinner. Chatted about the plans for the drive tomorrow. Told us a bit about himself and how he got started in the business etc. All very interesting.
We were all ready for bed not too long after 9. Got escorted to our tent/chalet/cabin (not quite sure what to call them).
A long, and somewhat windy, bumpy day, but amazing. Looking so forward to tomorrow…..elephants and lions, I hope. There are no giraffes in this part of Zambia, so won’t be seeing those until the next camp.
Wed Sept 11
5AM wake up call with coffee for our first game drive here. Barely dawn….enjoyed the coffee on the deck (wrapped in a blanket!)….birds starting to chatter, other sounds/screeches that I have no idea who they belonged too (monkeys maybe??). Could just barely see some type of antelope not too far off in the grass. Almost surreal sitting there…..really quite beautiful.
Breakfast was continental (really good muffins!) around the fire pit just outside the lounge. Nice big fire going which was great because it was really chilly. Big difference here between day and night temps. Daytime it hits 32C+ (90+F), at night it goes down to 7-10c (45-50F)…..we could see our breath!
Bundled up in blankets and off we went in search of elephants and lions! The plain is quite beautiful in the morning…..sort of a low laying mist with the odd tree and “island” here and there. They’re called islands because in the rainy season the plain floods and these groves of trees really do become islands. They do safaris in pontoon boats in June!! How cool would that be?? I would love to come back and do that one day.
Warthogs…..lots and lots of them. Love the babies!! Many different kinds of antelope….pukus, kudus, bushbucks, lechwe, roan etc. Found lots of hippos wallowing in the bits of mud and watering holes that are left. 
They look like big smooth shiny rocks….until you notice the nostrils or ears sticking up. If they catch site of you they’ll lift their heads and maybe half of their body just to shift around. They are HUGE!
The “roads” are incredibly rough….brain rattling sometimes. In some places they’ve put up little log “bridges” for the jeeps to cross the streams which are pretty much all that is left of the river here. How the guides ever find the roads is mind boggling…because sometimes you really can’t even see that there is a track or ???
We searched around the islands hoping to find the lions but to no avail. Finally my first elephants!!! How exciting. Just a couple to start. What beautiful creatures they are. They just saunter along, if near tree they’ll nibble for a bit and then move on. 
My first zebras! Lots of them in big herds…..a couple of really tiny babies. More elephants, some huge ones. One had two smaller ones, not quite babies, but pretty small….asked Newton if they were twins….he said, no that she was probably just “babysitting” one of them. Saw quite a few wildebeests….they seem to hang out in pairs, quite a few cape buffalo.
Back to camp just before noon. Had warmed up considerably by that time and I’d peeled down to my tank top!!
Lunch today was very good. Quiche with bacon, onion and cheese, beans and another excellent beet salad.
Spent the rest of the afternoon playing cards, updating journals and drinking Savannahs, which is a very refreshing cider. Tea was a delicious amarula cake…..v. moist.
Out for our evening drive. Wildebeests, cape buffalo, tons of hippos in the mud….had hoped to see one right out of the water. Warthogs, antelope, more elephants but no lions or other cats…..a little disappointing but Newton has assured us that we will see lots!
Sundowners on the plain……a glass of wine, delicious, crunchy home made potato chips….watching the sun go down surrounded by animals…..they were off in the distance but still!! On the ride back, in the dark, we finally came across a bunch of hippos out of the water just grazing on the grass that was pretty much right on the road. We very cautiously drove by them. Not interested in us at all…..luckily. Like you know they are huge but to see their entire body out of water, that close, you can really appreciate just how massive they are!!. Definitely the highlight of this drive.
For the night drives, the spotter uses a big spotlight to scan back and forth looking for whatever might be lurking. How they find things amazed me…..I guess they know what to look for. The eyes shining in the light? The least little bit of movement? Found a porcupine rummaging around in bushes at the base of a big tree. Civits….which apparently are not part of the cat family….badgers, mongoose looking things.
Arrived back at camp around 8 to find that they’d set up dinner out in the plain across from our chalets!! Bar and all! Beautifully set table again…..red tablecloth tonight, napkins in wine glasses and lots of candles to see!! Blankets and hot water bottles on the chairs for us. The BBQ was being tended by one of the guys. Stood around chatting with Newton and Sara and some of the others…..great people.
Appie was veg spring rolls (v.g.) main was the bbq chicken, veg and rice and dessert was homemade ice cream….some sort of berry and vanilla (v.v.g). What an absolutely fantastic experience!!!
Even though we didn’t see lions, I will give it an A+ for a very good day!
Thurs Sept 12
Up again at 5AM. Coffee on the deck looking out over the plain…..I think I could sit there for hours! Continental breakfast again around the fire pit. Chilly again…..last night I slept with my socks on!! Newton promised us lions today……
The morning light here is a photographers dream. Pinks and oranges, the mist/haze….just spectacular!
First thing we saw, besides all the usual antelope, were elephants….a lone one to start. Headed directly to the latest lion spotting location….one of the islands with long grass….and we were not disappointed! Found two young ones, a male, with his mane just starting to come out, and a female, both about 6 years old. A bit further around the island more of the pride including a very little and cute 3 month old cub.
One large female was out in the plain in between two herds of antelope, who all just merrily continued to graze away….but facing the direction of the lion. She eventually, very slowly, wandered back towards the rest of the pride and then into the tall grass to find her cubs that she’d left hidden in there. We watched another female that had her eye on a lone antelope nibbling away…..she just sat and watched for a bit then went back to join the rest of them.
We had stopped not too far from where a majority of them were…..some came over to investigate the jeep. They were so close you could have actually reached down and touched them! They wandered around us a bit to check us out and mozied on, keeping an eye on the antelope out on the plain. Just amazing to be able to experience this.
Not far from where we’d stopped was one big old hippo wallowing in a mud hole….I guess he had finally had enough of us and stood up, gave a gaping yawn and growl/snort, had his little tail spinning like crazy flipping mud and water all over, and then started coming towards us!! I think even Newton was a bit taken aback by how aggressive he was and started the jeep, just in case. Apparently hippos and elephants will often “mock” charge and when they do he says you should never, ever start to take off running, if on foot, or driving away fast, if in a jeep…..they see that as a challenge and will chase you. If you stand your ground…..with your heart in your throat I must say….they will usually back off. So far, so good with that!
Saw lots of zebras, antelople, elephants and warthogs on our way back to camp. Lots of birds again…..storks, herons, ox peckers on the backs of antelope etc. A bird watchers paradise!
Lunch today was “brunch”….a full English breakfast (v.g.). Cards etc for the afternoon. So, so hot during the day and not much of a breeze. Can smell smoke from the fires today. Tea this afternoon were the most delicious little beignet type donuts with a caramel sauce…..to die for!! I’m glad there was only the 4 of us because we ate them all!!
Off on our evening drive at 4. Headed back in the direction of the lions in search of the big male. Found some elephants who weren’t terribly happy to see us and proceeded with charging and trumpeting (fantastic!!). A little intimidating when you have a few tons of animal running towards you with his ears flapping and all…..
he stopped short about 10-15 ft from us. He turned around and started walking back to where he’d came from but then turned around again and made like he was going to charge again. At that point Newton said we’d annoyed them enough and should move on……no problem!
Drove around the lion island and noticed another jeep parked in the grass…..their driver pointed, indicating to Newton that the big guy was there. Couldn’t drive thru the grass because there were too many lions in it…..napping and just lazing about, including one little cub that wanted to play…..jumping on the dozing cats, playing with their tails. Finally one big paw came out and held him down, which stopped him for a few minutes but he then wiggled out and tried to wrestle with some of the young adults…..pretty darn cute!
Worked our way around the island for a better lookout spot to see the male…..and there he was!! Sleeping!! All of them had big full tummies so must have had a good hunt earlier. He lifted his head to have a look at us and then just sort of rolled over and back to napping. We stayed for about a 1/2 hour just watching them…..just beautiful animals.
Drove a little ways away from the lions and charging elephants to have our last sundowners here in a field full of pukus! Heard the lions roaring!! They let other prides know where they are…..one roars, then the other. Really quite incredible to be standing there having a glass of wine and nibbling on our snacks. Beautiful sunset tonight….lots of pink in the sky, probably from the fires.
On the way back Newton spotted a lion, in the dark (!) out in the field on the hunt. The antelope all took off except for one that she was slowly stalking. He was careful to not shine the spotlight right on either the cat or the antelope, sort of moving it back and forth. We all agree that it might be exciting to see but we really and truly did not want to see it happen…..I think he thought we were crazy!
Back to camp for dinner, which was set up out on the deck tonight. Blankets and hot water bottles waiting on our chairs. Table set just lovely as usual. Excellent dinner again! Broccoli soup to start, pork chops with mashed potatoes (v.v.g.) and the dessert……a birthday cake for Russ! So much fun. All the staff (12) came over and sang happy birthday to him. Fun evening and a great way to end a terrific day.
Very sorry to be leaving here…..I think I could have managed another day or two. But our next stop will have giraffes and leopards….the only things missing so far. Moving on to Mayukuyuku (sp??) for one night tomorrow en route back to Lusaka for our flight to Mfuwe and South Luangwa National Park.
Fri Sept 13
Nice to have a bit of a sleep in this morning. Wake up call at 6 with coffee. Sitting on the deck I saw lots of animals crossing the plain. Most were antelope of some sort, a couple of cape buffalo and a huge herd of elephants off in the distance…..how I wish I had a good camera, or at least one with a great zoom…..ah sigh.
A great sit down breakfast this morning before we headed out. Said our goodbyes to everyone and thanked them for an amazing experience.
Matthews was there waiting for us in the MTTZ jeep for our drive (4-5hrs) to the next camp. On the road by 8. The drive this morning took us thru the park for a while…..cape buffalo on the road and a big herd of elephants crossing just ahead of them…..had to stop and wait, animals have the right of way on the roads here.
We left the park at some point and drove along a peripheral road with park on one side and land plots on the other. A few animals here and there. We stopped to take some pictures…..opened the windows and in came the tsetse flies….tons of them!! Quickly closed the windows and began swatting at them. Matthews keeps a fly swatter in the jeep just for that purpose!! Cheri using the flyswatter and Andrea and I using her flipflops!! They are the nastiest little things when they bite. Even while driving along they were buzzing around the outside the windows…..have no idea how fast or how far they can fly but they were keeping up with us and we were bopping along at 50k (good quality dirt road here).
Not much too see on the drive….mostly just forest. A few kilometers before we came to the paved road we stopped (where there were NO tsetses!!) for a stretch and a pee break. On the non-park side of the road we’d seen a few huts on the plots but nothing substantial considering the size of them. Matthews said that the plots were mostly owned by government ministers as an investment. Some had big long driveways with big gates but no fences??? Some had signs that said they were gardens but whatever they were we couldn’t see anything from the road. A few minutes later we were on the main highway, which is a reasonably good paved road. The road cuts thru the park so we had to stop at the gate….and met all the local baboons!
Once in the park there are many, many speed bumps, big and small, along the way. Can just about count the number of cars/trucks we passed the entire drive on one hand. A few big trucks and collectivos mostly.
Back onto a dirt road a few minutes after entering the park…..approx 8k into camp. Arrived at Mayukuyuku Camp around 2. http://kafuecamps.com/ What a pretty place! They are a permanent tented camp right on the Kafue River. That means our accomos are tents with a thatched roof covering over it. Total outdoor attached bathroom….kind of fun! Our tent has an excellent view of the river. A hammock strung up just off the deck. Lots of animals around here….can hear the hippos just a few feet down the river bank and tons of monkeys in the trees….they flew thru the branches then just sat and had a good look at us. We have an air horn in our tent???? I hope we don’t have to use it!
Very nice open air dining room/lounge. Big thatched roof building overlooking the river. Big dining table, lots of comfy seating areas all overlooking the river. They have some chairs set up along the shore with a path going down to it….but those hippos are snorting pretty close by so not sure I’d venture down there myself.
Had time for a quick drink before lunch was served. Watched the hippos wallowing a bit further down shore, some elephants across the river and just tons of monkeys flying around and thru the trees. Apparently the lions and cheetahs wander thru camp all the time….could just sit here and see all you want by the sound of things.
Lunch was pasta with mushrooms (v.g.). Just after lunch Clement took us for a bit of a hike/walk down a path to the river to show us where the hippos hang out and the crocs spend their day. Lots of huge boulders here…..must be leftovers from glaciers/ice age because there are no mountains or even hills that they could have come from. Very pretty and very different from Busanga or the KRL.
Everyone was tired from the drive today…..fighting off those damn tsetse flies…..poor Cheri and Andrea have all the bites to prove it. Very, very hot here…..32C they said. Sat around, did journals, read, napped, played our crib games and watched the animals along the river. Chatted with some people from the family from South Africa that were staying here…..grandpa was off on a fishing trip for the day.
Moved out from lounge to get a bit of the breeze that had come up….a little closer to the river. They serve a terrific Zambian white wine….the best we’ve had so far. I wonder why the other camps don’t serve it. We’ve been getting South African wine….not that it hasn’t been OK but this stuff was really good.
As soon as the sun set and it started to get dark the temps dropped. Not quite as chilly as on Busanga Plains but definitely needed a sweater. Had an escort back to our tent, which of course was the last one down the path. The path is chunks of bark….like big hunks of bark mulch that isn’t that easy to walk on. Also grabbed the flashlights that they provided in our tent to find our way back…..very dark here. There is electricity but I think it’s solar or from a generator, so lighting is quite minimal.
Moved to around the fire pit for drinks before dinner. It is just lovely here……would love to come back and spend a few days here. Can’t see them in the dark but can certainly hear the hippos…..
Dinner was at 8. Filet again! Starter was squash soup (v.g.), main was the filet and excellent homemade french fries that were really good and really hot. Dessert was creme carmel (not my thing….so yuk). 
Chatted a bit and got our escort back to our tent. Somehow managed to get a very nasty puncture wound on my big toe from one of the chunks of mulch. Big chunk sticking out of my toe!! Got that out and then tried to clean it as best I could with antiseptic wipes, put some polysporin on it and a band-aid. It bled a lot so hopefully nothing left in it.
Great day, tsetse flies, hurt toe and all! Beautiful place to spend a quiet afternoon.
Looking forward to our next adventure tomorrow!
My Travel Journals 